Those involved in field operational units often possess or require a large amount of uniforms, supplies, and other equipment. Examples of such operational units are athletic teams, construction industries, medical and hospital organizations, military and paramilitary organizations, theatre companies, and marching and concert bands. There is currently a need within these groups for better equipment storage and handling solutions. Specifically, there is a need for a storage system that can be used to effectively store equipment at storage sites and cycle and transport the equipment between the storage sites and areas in which the equipment is used.
As an example, space is always at a premium in schools and athletic facilities. There is rarely enough room allocated for athletic equipment storage. The storage space that is made available for athletic equipment is often located in storage facilities that are inconvenient for coaches, equipment managers, and players. These storage facilities are often small, cramped rooms, closets or portions of rooms or similar sites or spaces. Storage facilities often overflow into areas that are not intended for storage purposes, such as locker rooms, gymnasiums, and coaches' offices. Equipment storage facilities are frequently messy with athletic equipment strewn about the floor. If there are storage shelves and bins, they usually do not have labels or allow the equipment managers to visually inspect or manage the gear. Equipping players at the beginning of the season is usually disorganized and characterized by piles of gear spread out over the storage facility or locker room for weeks.
Mobility is also an essential part of the storage of items for field operational units. While a permanent storage facility allows for certain efficiencies to be gained by having a central location of the stored items, in many instances some of these items need to be transported to another site quickly, inexpensively, and with minimal planning. For instance, in athletic endeavors, planning and managing the practice, game, and travel logistics of teams is a complicated task and usually not the primary focus of the athletic or activities director, coaches, players, and trainers. Athletic equipment is constantly being moved through a usage cycle between “off-season” storage and “in-season” use and management. During the season, equipment constantly needs to be moved to and from storage areas, practice fields, and game sites.
Safety is also a very important aspect of equipment management. Player safety and avoidance of program and personal liability can be accomplished by effectively managing gear through regular inspections and record keeping. Regular gear inventory and inspection is critical to identify and replace expired, damaged, and lost equipment. By taking care of their equipment and knowing what equipment is on hand and “game ready,” schools can also extend equipment life and can assure purchases only as necessary. Safety also encompasses the sanitary aspects of storage. With adequate ventilation, well-designed storage can mitigate the growth and spread of mold and odor associated with locker rooms. Also, by effectively managing and organizing equipment, schools can prevent and control loss and theft.
Moreover, in the field of athletics, equipment storage systems must reflect the pride, excellence, and the winning attitude of the schools' athletic programs. Pride and excellence are rarely reflected in current equipment management areas or processes. Messy, disorganized equipment areas do not reflect discipline, pride, or excellence. Disorganized equipment distribution to players does not support the desired tone of the program. If the storage areas are poorly kept, they do not reflect well on a school's excellence to parents, alumni, fellow educators, and recruits. The makeshift storage areas are usually in a state of disarray and can be a source of embarrassment for the schools. As a result, the areas are often shut or closed during recruiting trips to prevent such embarrassment.
There are not any commercially available organizational storage systems meeting the current needs or addressing the current problems discussed above. As an illustration, high schools, colleges, and universities usually use storage systems ranging from makeshift and make-do systems to generic, mass-marketed products modified for use as athletic equipment storage systems. The makeshift or make-do solutions often comprise homemade wooden shelves or generic shelving available from local hardware stores. Carts are also often homemade and storage containers are usually corrugated boxes, gear bags, garbage bags, laundry hampers, or generic plastic bins. Any labeling is usually done with a marker and tape on the equipment, shelves, and boxes.
Some universities/colleges and professional sports organizations currently use expensive, high-density storage solutions such as those manufactured by Spacesaver Corporation. Such high-density storage solutions have movable shelving units carried on a rail system typically installed in a raised floor such that the shelving units can be slide together and apart to provide for more space efficient storage as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,688,708, 6,669,314, 6,644,213, 6,371,031, 6,231,138, 6,161,485, 4,557,534, 4,432,589, and 3,829,189. Because these systems are fixed on dual tracks, those using the system are not allowed to bring the storage system to an off-site area. Those wishing to access the storage must come to the storage facility and cannot bring the storage system with them. In addition, solid panels enclose the shelves and/or bins in the storage system, which inhibits any airflow within the arrangement. Moreover, the bin and shelving arrangement within the systems are also fixed so those using the systems do not have the flexibility of being able to arrange the shelves and/or bins in appropriate dimensions for different sized articles. Also, although the storage solutions manufactured by Spacesaver Corporation have been modified to accommodate athletic equipment, the solutions are generally designed for document storage and therefore cannot fulfill all of the aforementioned equipment storage needs of logistical management units.
Other similar movable storage systems have been developed for storage units that are fixed onto and movable along dual tracks. Some exemplary systems can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,644,213, 6,371,031, 6,112,917, 6,027,190, 5,160,189, 4,597,615, 4,467,924, 4,307,922, 4,256,355, and 6,161,485. The storage units in these storage systems are movable along the dual tracks and the contents can be accessed when two adjacent units are separated by a space. However, the units in these storage systems cannot be removed from the dual tracks and taken out of the storage site. As a result, those desiring to transport equipment to an off-site area will not be able to do so using the units in the storage systems described in these patents.
There have also been systems developed in which the units are fixed relative to a wall but that can be pulled outwardly away from the wall to access the contents. U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,708 describes a space saving storage system in which the storage modules move along a bracket mounted on the wall. The storage modules are movable along the bracket and can be pulled outwardly from the wall to access the contents. However, as with the patents listed above, the units cannot be removed from the bracket and taken out of the storage facility. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,231,138, 6,027,190, and 5,683,155 describe additional fixed storage systems. The storage units described in these patents can be pulled outwardly from the wall to access the contents, but cannot be removed from the tracks and taken out of the storage facility. As a result, those desiring to transport equipment to an off-site area will not be able to do so using the units in the storage systems described in these patents.
While the vast majority of storage systems are fixed within a given facility, there have been a few attempts to provide storage units that can be removed from the storage facility. U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,765 describes a space saving system in which the storage units are movable on casters along adjacent dual track arrangements within a storage facility to provide front-to-rear movement of adjacent carts that are stored in a side-by-side relation in their storage position. While these carts could be removed from the track and taken out of the storage facility, the carts are not designed to accommodate equipment that is used by field operational units. In addition, the carts or shelves can only be removed off the end of the tracks. U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,106 is directed to a space saving system in which the storage units are shelf main bodies that are provided with pivotable casters and are movable along a dual set of overhead rails within a storage facility. While these shelf main bodies can be removed from the overhead rails so as to function as conveyer wagons, as with the above-listed patents, neither the shelf main bodies nor the overhead rails are not designed to accommodate equipment that is used by field operational units.
A patent that is directed towards an athletic equipment carrier rack can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,904,383. The patent describes an athletic equipment carrier rack to be used for the care and handling of various articles of athletic equipment. However, the cart described by this patent is an isolated unit and is not designed to be incorporated into a modular storage system.
What is needed is a better equipment storage and handling system for field operational units. Specifically, there is a need for a modular storage system that can be implemented into an existing or newly constructed facility and that can be used to effectively store and access equipment at storage sites and easily cycle and transport the equipment between the storage facility and areas in which the equipment is used by utilizing the storage units. There is also a need for a system having generally reconfigurable storage units that can accommodate the various uniforms and equipment of field operational units.